Improvement in revolving fire-arms



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WILLIAM MASON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO COLTS PAT- ENT FIRE-ARMS MANUFACTURING COM'PANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REvcLvlNG FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,644, dated July 2, 1872.

To whom it may' concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MASON, of the city and county of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Revolving Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification.'

Figure l is an exterior view, showing the lower side of a Colts revolver with my improvements; Fig. 2, across-section on the line :c x, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an end view; Figs. 4 and 5, detached views of parts of the revolver; and Fig. 6, a cross-section on the line Y Y, Fig. 4.

My invention -relates to a revolver with a manychambered breech, capable of being loaded at the rear. It has for its object to provide for au efficient means of rotating the breech; also, for the application to the pistol of a conveniently-arranged shell-ejector. To these ends my said invention consists in making a cylindrical stud on the shell-ejector case and a recess in the barrel, fitted to receive the stud, so combined as to form as an inexpensive :means of fastening, the case to the barrel. It also consists in making an inclined offset in the slit through which the ejector thumb-piece protrudes from the case, which acts in combination with the ejector-spring to keep the thumb-piece in its proper position, as hereinafter setforth.

Similar letters of reference denote the same parts in the several figures of the drawing, in whichv a is the stock of the pistol; b, the barrel; c, the cylinder or many-chambered breech. The cartridge-shell ejector is applied to the side of the barrel b. It consists ofa rod, p, sliding in acylindrical tube or case, i, and furnished at its upper end with a head, q, and thumb-piece r. It is urged outward by a spiral spring in the case. To provide for the rm attachment of the ejector-case t' to the band, I form a short cylindrical projection or stud, 7c, on the side of the tubular body of the case and at a right angle therewith, while in the side of the barrel a shallow bed, l, is cut for the body of the case, and recess o made to receive the stud k. A single screw, w, which enters the stud 7c, binds the case firmly to the barrel, as shown` in Fig. 2. These parts are all easily made of their exact form by machinery and with siniple tools.

The head q of the ejector-rod p, at the part where the rod is screwed into it, is made narrower one way than the other, (see Fig. 3,) so that, while the head is guided in the case when all the parts' are in place, yet itmay, when the rod is unscrewed and removed and the case c' taken off from the barrel, be taken out through an outlet, u, formed in the side of the case t' near its upper end and on the side which lies next the barrel. The thumb-piece fr protrudes from the side ofthe case i through a longitudinal slit, s, and this slit is oset in a slanting direction at its upper end in such a manner that the thumb-piece will be swung around against the barrel by the pressure of the ejector-rod spring acting upward, whereby the thumb-piece is held out of the way when not in use. (See Fig. 1.)

To eject the cartridge shells the thumbpiece r is forced downward, which swings it outward and then carries the rod down through the chambers of the cylinder, which are successively, brought into line therewith in the usual manner.

Having thus described my invention., I claim- 1. The cylindrical stud k on the side of the ejector-case in combination with the recesses o and lin the barrel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. I also claim the offset t in the slit s of the ejerhztor-case, when made slanting, as described, in combination with the thumb-piece T, ej ector-rogl, and spring for carrying the ejector-rod outward, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 23d day of January,

WM. MASON. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

W. B. FRANKLIN, C. B. RICHARDS. 

